This invention relates to a method for flushing and filling an extracorporeal blood circulation system of dialysis machines, in particular blood tubes and dialyzer, and to an assembly with the aid of which an extracorporeal blood circulation system can be flushed and filled. The filling process includes the deaerating of the extracorporeal blood circulation system, the deaerating operation being an indispensable precondition for a dialysis treatment.
Disposable tubes which are normally packed under sterile conditions and have to be flushed, deaerated and filled prior to a treatment are nowadays used a arterial and venous blood tubes of an extracorporeal blood circulation system. These operations have so far been carried out with physiological salines that are conveyed by the blood pump of the machine through the tube system and the dialyzer to flush the extracorporeal blood circulation system, thereby freeing it from impurities, and to fill the system, so that air is entirely removed.
The use of a saline flushing liquid has the disadvantage that it entails considerable costs.